Wordle

Came across references to Wordle in TWO blogs I read today so thought I'd go and check it out. What fun!

An 'interesting' week

I've been laid low with the 'flu all last week. Shivers and aching bones and a racking cough. I nearly went back to work last Thursday and got dressed but felt pretty feeble and when really loose diarrhoea started (presumably a side-effect of the anti-bionics), I was back in my pyjamas in a flash. I thought I'd be back at work today but had a bad night coughing and spluttering and with the prospect of having to do a desk shift this afternoon I decided it'd be better for me and the Library users of Springwood if I stayed home one more day.

I was out and about on the weekend a little. We finally got a real estate man to come and look at the house and it will be going up for sale very soon so we also went looking at a few houses just to get a feel for what's out there.

There's a house that we loved at Blaxland. (Look here). We can't do anything until we have sold this place so all we can do is hope no-one else likes it before that happens. Everything else we looked at just wasn't big enough or interesting enough for us.

We also rented some space in a self-storage place so we can get rid of some of the STUFF that hangs about the house and clutters it up. We started in Ishbel's room by removing the book cases and put a whole lot of her toys (several boxes of soft toys) in boxes to store away for a while. The old saying "you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette" was in my head all day yesterday. We had 'eggs' all up the walls and all over the floor in her room - I thought we were never going to sort it out. We have done it though and her room is looking much less cluttered. THEN I read in the photographer's guidelines that he usually doesn't bother photographing kids bedrooms unless they are notable in some way! Mind you, all the work is not wasted, the room still needs to look clear and uncluttered for people coming through to view.

Now it's Heidi's turn for an award

My colleagues and I in Information and Support Services have been having to pick up extra desk shifts and extra projects after our Co-ordinator resigned at the end of January. Prior to her resignation she'd been on leave for 6 weeks. Her job is to be filled sometime this month but we'll have been managing without someone for six months at least by then. Meanwhile we've fallen behind in our own work.

Rob going to Japan

Two weeks ago I applied for 1 of 10 positions in the school for a fully sponsored two week trip to japan.
The application itself involved a written respose followed by an interveiw with two of the teachers for final selection.
This means that I will be grouped with other young people from all over the asia pacific region and in December I will be heading to Japan for one week of home stay followed by one week of travelling around the country on tourist visits to some of the major cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima and some other places but there names escapes me at this moment in time.
Possibly the best part of this exchange program is that it is only $88 administration fee whereas jamies was near enough $2000 and he had to pay half and I only have to pay half of the $88.
this is going to be a wonderful experience for me and I am really looking forward to it, it should be lots of fun.

Much fun in the world of Rob :)

Rob

Bella's been feeling the cold

Luckily our young friend, Georgia, miscalculated the size of her dog, Mindy, and got her a coat which didn't fit.

It does fit our Bella though and is keeping her nice and cozy warm.

Sizzlin' sausages

Yesterday Jamie, Rob and I helped out with the Valley Heights RFS BBQ stand at Springwood Public School's Twilight Fair.

We met at the station about 1:30pm, got the gear loaded up into the truck and the PC and headed up to the school to set up.

Bruce soon had the BBQ going and was busy making sure things were cooked in the right order while 15 kg of onions were peeled and chopped and heaven only knows how many slices of bread were put between serviettes ready for selling.

We started off slow but by 6 we had a queue going back a fair way and we'd run out of onions. Not long later we'd also sold all 1000 sausages and had to go and buy more. We were only able to get another 50 at the local supermarket so we were all done and washed up by the time the fireworks started about 8pm.

We all traipsed over to the Big Red Truck and had the best seats in the house for the fireworks.

Click here for some more photos of the afternoon.

We capped off the evening with tea and stuff at Janet and Steven's house where somewhere along the line I ended up with Kate's undies on over my yellows!!

I'm not even going to try to explain . . .

Teething troubles

Ishbel has been a regular at the dental clinic lately. Mostly all she has had done is fissure seals put in - stuff put in the crevices of the back teeth where they are particularly deep with the aim of preventing food getting stuck in there and causing cavities. Today though she needed a filling. The tooth was actually filled 4 years ago but at the time she was unco-operative and Lesley, our dental therapist, noted the hole was not caries-free.

Ishbel was very good and did not complain about having to have a needle and her tooth drilled. She even had a little bit of fun sucking on the sucky thing and watching the blood and yuk drain out of a tooth that would probably have abcessed very soon, Lesley said.


By the end, however, Ishbel was fairly shaken up and didn't want to go back to school. I said I'd take her to work for an hour then I'd take her to school. At work I put Ishbel to work, helping me unpack the boxes of new books that came in this morning (Jenny usually does that but she's on holidays). After an hour Ishbel was still not happy so, with Gillian kindly offering to do the lunchtime desk shift I should have done, we decided to go home. We took the library mail to the post office then decided to ring Auntie Karen and see if she was up for a visit because we know she's spending Thursdays at home. Armed with afternoon tea we spent an hour or so with Karen and a snotty Uncle Dan.

Valley Heights RFS AGM

Last night it was our brigade's Annual General Meeting. All positions are declared open and nominations made either before the meeting or from the floor. My friend Steve was running for Captain against our current Captain, David. David won again which was disappointing for Steve, but David is a nice man so it's not a bad result.
I was nominated unopposed for Assistant Station Officer. I only allowed the nomination because I have been assured the position requires no work - I might sweep out from time to time. I was also nominated for Secretary but I declined, a) because I want to be able to be free to support my friend, Joanne, as she gets sicker and b) it's a stinker of a job and you'd have to get your head looked at if you said yes.
I also won the Attendance Award - aka the Get A Life Award - as the non-field officer who has turned up to the most training sessions, etc. I got a lovely acid yellow compass as a prize. As I said at the meeting though, all the members contributed to my getting the prize - while we have made particular friends, every person I've met has been unfailingly friendly and generous with their time and their knowledge and has made it fun for the boys and I.
Ishbel isn't convinced the compass works because it points North towards the front corner of the house, not at the front windows where she thinks North should be!

Ishbel's Match Report from Saturday 31st May

Today I played soccor and we won and lost at the same time. It was Bowerbirds v Volchers. The Volchers won and lost as well. I almost got a goal and I would of got a goal if another girl was not in the way.

Final score : Springwood Bowerbirds (Ishbel's team) 1 : Springwood Vulchers 1

Amazingly simple home remedies

This was one of those emails that just tickled me with its simple brilliance and I decided to post it here rather than send it around.

1. If you're choking on an ice cube, simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat. Presto! the blockage will instantly remove itself.


2. Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold the vegetables while you chop.


3. Avoid arguments with the females about lifting the toilet seat ~ use the sink.


4. For high blood pressure sufferers ~ simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure on your veins. Remember to use a timer.


5. A mouse trap placed on top of your alarm clock will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button ~ Jamie needs to do this. He forgot to set his alarm for work on Friday morning and even insomniac Me did not wake until 5:30 something when he had to be at work at 5:45!


6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives ~then you'll be afraid to cough.


7. You only need two tools in life ~ WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.


8. Remember ~ everyone seems normal until you get to know them.


9. If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.

Thought for the Day: some people are like slinkies - not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.